


Be Careful What You Wish For, More Like Be Careful Who You Kill

by ElizabethDionne



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Child, Gen, Jason Todd - Freeform, Red Hood - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 18:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17249390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizabethDionne/pseuds/ElizabethDionne
Summary: This is based of a writing prompt I saw-You are the child of a villain and have just gotten the news that his arch nemesis has killed him.





	Be Careful What You Wish For, More Like Be Careful Who You Kill

**Author's Note:**

> This is based of a writing prompt I saw-
> 
>  
> 
> You are the child of a villain and have just gotten the news that his arch nemesis has killed him.

“Hi Lizzy.  I have some bad news for you.” The henchman said to the six year old, tasked with the unsavory task of telling her that her father was just killed.

Now, Lizzy didn’t know that her father was a villain.  All she knew is that he would leave sometimes and come back either hurt or with a lot of money.  He tried to shelter her from this as much as possible because he wanted the best for her and being a villain was most definitely not the best.  So, he sheltered her from that whole scene, keeping her away from it as much as possible so she wouldn’t get captured by other villains and used against him.

“What’s wrong mister?” Lizzy asked, such innocence surrounding her still that there was a huge debate between everyone as to who should be the one to break the news to Lizzy, since no one there was exactly “innocent” looking.  And eventually decided that Harry was just right for the job since he’s the least menacing.

“Well, your father’s been killed by someone who disliked him a lot.  They had a disagreement and were fighting when your father was killed.  I’m sorry.” Harry said, not sure how to tell her in a way that she would understand, seeing as she was still six and didn’t know exactly what death meant.

“Did him and the man make up?” Harry couldn’t believe how innocent this girl is.

“Sweetheart, your father is dead.  He’s never coming back. You won’t ever see him again.” Harry tried to explain it to the girl but her innocence prevented this.  Seeing as the world knew nothing about Lizzy, there was nowhere for her to go. Sure, she had birth records and hospital records but that was all before her father became rich and popular.  He had the birth records buried and anyone who tried to share them was publicly shamed. No one knew about her and to release that she was real would drag her family name through the mud and ruin any chance at living with other human beings.  There was only one chance for her to survive and it wasn’t with any of her father’s henchmen.

                                                             

                                                                  ********************************************************

 

“Are you ready to meet him?” Lizzy had finally understood what death meant and realized that she would never see her father again.  It tore Harry up to have to explain it and ruin some of her innocence, but it was important to tell her otherwise she’d grow up thinking her dad was going to walk through the door and start taking care of her again.  It’s a harsh world but that’s the way it works.

“Yeah.  I’m ready.  I guess.” Lizzy said, frightened to meet this new man who was supposed to be her new daddy.

“Okay.  Let’s go then.” Harry carried her into the apartment building and pressed the button for the elevator, trying to ignore all the rude looks he got from people walking by.

It was a quiet ride up to the his floor, both reflecting on two connected but different things.  Lizzy on what her new daddy would be like, if he would be nice like her old one and mister Harry or mean like some people.  Harry on what he would do after this, where he could possibly work. He was using the money that he was paid for being a henchman to pay for college, so he could get out of this and become a respectable person with a respectable job.  But now, he had no idea what to do. He got into this career because he had no other job option, he had tats and piercings galore, no socially acceptable place would hire him based off his looks only. Other places got to his criminal record and said no, even if they were minor thefts.  He needed money and no one would help him so that was the only option left. Harry didn’t know what to do and it scared him. It honest to god scared him.

Harry walked out of the elevator and down the hall and stopped at the guys apartment.  

“Well munchkin, we’re here.  It’s time for me to put you down.” Lizzy didn’t want to leave.  Harry made her feel safe and protected her after her daddy’s death and she wished he would take care of her instead of giving her away.

“Why can’t you keep me instead of giving me away?  You make me feel safe and I don’t want to stay with a stranger.” Harry was saddened that he couldn’t take care of Lizzy.  He really was because he enjoyed taking care of her, of having a responsibility to keep him from going too far, but he couldn’t give her the life she would need.  He couldn’t provide for a child. Hell, he can barely care for himself, having a child on top of that would be a nightmare. Harry bent down to eye level with Lizzy.

“I can’t.  I’m so sorry.  I wish I could but I wouldn’t be able to take care of you.  I don’t have enough money to do it. I am very sorry. But I know you’ll be happy with this guy.  He’ll be able to take care of you better than I could.” Harry stood back up and knocked loudly on the door.  Hoping against hope that he was actually home. He was in luck.

“What do you want?” A very tired looking Jason Todd opened the door quickly, causing Lizzy to whimper and hide behind Harry.

“I have the child you said you would adopt.” Harry put a strained smile on his face and discreetly held the gun to his side, trying to block it from the view of Lizzy, who thought Jason was willing going to take care of her when in reality he didn’t know anything about her and probably rather shoot himself than take care of Lizzy.

“Of course.  Please c’mon in.” Jason said monotonously and backed away, holding the door open for Harry and Lizzy to come in.

After they were in, Jason shut and locked the door, debating what to do.  He could kill them, but the girl was innocent and had done nothing while the guy didn’t look like much of a threat.

“Could we please talk privately, Jason?” Harry asked, putting the gun in the holster beneath his jacket.

“Yes we can.  Follow me. And sweety, don’t touch anything.  Just sit on the couch while we speak.” Lizzy nodded, terrified at being left alone in this room with all the knives and guns hanging around.  Even if she didn’t know what they were for, they scared her so bad that she sat on the couch playing with her teddy bear instead of exploring like she wanted to.

“This is the daughter of the man you killed last night.  I am entrusting her care in your hands. She is your responsibility.  When I come back at the end of the year to check on her, and she’s either dead or you gave her away to someone else, I will find you and I will kill you.  You lost your choice in this matter when you watched her father take his last breath. Now, here’s the packet with some information on her. She didn’t spend a lot of time around her father's workers and talked very little about her so there’s not much her except for some basic things- such as clothing sizes, shoe sizes, age, birth certificate, social security number, pertinent info.  The media has no idea she existed. I’d like to keep it that way for now. We’re going to walk out there, you’re going to adopt her, and we’re both going to act like friends and like we just had the happiest talk ever. Got it?” Harry said harshly, shoving the file in his hands and glaring at him.

Jason nodded, lots of things going through his head at that moment.  Such as, how he can give her to Bruce or Dick or even Tim and take her back on the last day of the year-

“Oh and by the way, there’s going to be people watching you, spying on you.  Just so that way we know you didn’t give her away to someone else for them to shoulder the responsibility of your mess.  Of the girl who’s father you took from her.” Harry interrupted Jason’s thought and immediately put to rest any idea of getting her away from him.

“Okay.  Yeah. I can do this.  Although, if you care so much about her to threaten me in my own home with weapons I can use to kill you everywhere, why don’t you just take care of her yourself?” Jason asks Harry, a question he decides to answer.

“I’m a criminal with no money.  Being raised by a pack of wolves would lead to a better life than the one I could provide.  Working for her father was how I was paying for college. It was my ticket out of this life and into a better one.  With him gone, I can’t pay for my degree and will probably die somewhere on the streets. I don’t want that for her.  I may love her like she’s my own but I love her too much to put her through this life. That’s why. You can do so much better for her and that’s what she needs.  An actual life.” Harry said, tears brimming in his eyes during his explanation, the reality of his situation dawning on him. He was most likely going to die somewhere and no one would care.

Jason nodded and gestured to the doorway back to the living room, begrudgingly accepting that this is his child.

“Fine.  Let’s just go out there so I can meet the kid.” Harry nodded grimly and they walked into the living room where Lizzy sat on the couch, ready to meet her new daddy, despite how scary his living room was.

Jason bent down to be eye level with Lizzy.  “Hi Lizzy. I’m your new dad,” is what Jason said to Lizzy, awkward as hell and not knowing what to say, seeing as he’s never been in this situation before.

Lizzy didn’t say anything, instead hugging Jason, to which he responded with a tight hug back, not wanting to leave her alone like his mother had done with him.

“I think you guys’ll get along well.  Now it’s time for me to go. I need to get going.  Bye Lizzy.” Harry said and Lizzy jumped off the couch, running to him and hugging his waist.

“Will I ever see you again?” Lizzy asked and Harry nearly broke down crying.

“I don’t know.  Maybe.” He didn’t want to tell Lizzy the truth.  He didn’t want to ruin her childhood anymore than it has been in the last two weeks.

“Behave for your new dad.” Harry said as he hugged Lizzy back before letting go and leaving the apartment, giving one last warning glare at Jason as he left.

“Alright, so what’s your favorite food?’ Jason asked sitting next to Lizzy on the couch and asking questions about her.  This went on for hours, Lizzy finally warming up to Jason and deciding he’s not so bad after all.

“Hmmm, it’s eight pm.  Time for bed missy. You can sleep in my bed for now, meanwhile, I need to get ready for work.  If you need it, the bathroom’s right here and the kitchen is just over there and just in case you get thirsty, I’ll leave a glass of water on the bedside table, alright.” Jason looked through Lizzy’s bag and dug out some pajamas for her to wear to bed, turning away when she changed and putting her clothes in the corner for the night.

“Goodnight.  Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Jason said as he tucked her in the bed, giving her her teddy bear and pulling the sheets up to her chin. “You’ll like it here.  I promise. Just don’t touch anything on the walls. It’s very important that you don’t.” Jason said and she nodded, determined not to disobey her new dad.

“I really have to go but, sweet dreams princess.” And Jason resisted the urge to stay and protect her, which was really strong in his gut, instead opting to get his neighbor to listen for sounds of trouble, since she was a night owl and usually stayed up and would do anything for the gorgeous man next door.  With that, his night out fighting crime officially began, him running down the stairs and to the parking garage where his motorcycle was parked.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one. I wrote in a record Five hours. That's the quickest I'll ever write. And this is excluding the break I took to eat. The ending is a bit weird but that's only because it was after I'd taken a thirty minute break and all my ideas were disappearing faster than my friends.


End file.
